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Conscientious objection
:See Draft evasion, a larger focus, and because of the control afforded by its negative connotations, lavishly expanded on Wikipedia which also covers the somewhat reclaimed (WP) epithet, "draft dodger" :A more appropriate focus, as Wikipedia:Conscientious objector, to which this title was redirected, draws attention away from an ethical stand, which is in many ways unassailable, and towards an individual who can be criticized. :See The Draft, which currently is composed almost entirely of more and similar material. This version is from 2004 and could be much improved with material from the current WP article In general, conscientious objection is a sincere conviction based on one's conscience that prohibits someone from participating in organized violence, especially all forms or certain aspects of war. Conscientious objection is historically based on religious beliefs but is increasingly based on ethical, political or philosophical grounds. The most common form of conscientious objection is the one to compulsory military (WP) service (conscription (WP)). Most objectors refuse to go to the army before their call-up, but there are also many cases of objection during the service or even during a war (e.g. in the US (WP) and British (WP) armed forces in Iraq (WP)). History Conscientious objection has existed since the incorporation of forced military service but was not officially recognized until the end of the First World War (WP), when the growing objection to the brutality and pointlessness of war and increase in acceptance of pacifist ethics forced governments to recognize it as a fundamental human right (WP) as a part of the freedom of conscience. But despite the fact that international institutions like the United Nations (WP) (UN) or the Council of Europe (WP) (CoE) regard and promote it as a human right, conscientious objection still does not have a legal basis in most countries. Among the roughly one-hundred countries that have conscription, only thirty countries have some legal provisions, 25 of them in Europe. In Europe, most countries with conscription more or less fulfill international guidelines on conscientious objection legislation (except for Greece (WP), Cyprus (WP), Turkey (WP), Finland (WP) and Russia (WP)) today. In many countries outside Europe, especially in armed conflict areas (Israel (WP)/Palestine (WP), DR Congo (WP)), conscientious objection is punished severely. While conscientious objectors - or short CO's - used to be seen as deserters, traitors, cowards, slackers or simply un-patriotic, their image has changed drastically in the Western world in past decades. Especially in Europe, where objectors usually serve an alternative civilian service are regarded as making an equally important contribution to society as conscripts. Parallel to that, the number of objectors has risen significantly, too: E.g. in Germany (WP) from less than one percent of all eligible men to more than fifty-percent in 2003 (WP). Historical Development The modern idea of conscientious objection has its roots in the Protestant belief that everyone is individually responsible for his deeds before God. Therefore it is not surprising that the first legal provisions were introduced in Protestant (WP) Norway (WP) in 1900 (WP) (Denmark (WP) and Sweden (WP) followed 1917 (WP) and 1921 (WP)). During the following decades, the other protestant countries in Europe also gradually recognized the right to conscientious objection. Due to the different view on individual guilt and loyalty to the state, the Catholic (WP) countries followed fifty years later beginning with France (WP) and Luxembourg (WP) in 1963 (WP). While the situation in Western Europe improved during the Cold War (WP), the Soviet Union (WP) and its Eastern European satellite state (WP)s security concerns led them to ignore Lenin's opinion that there should be the right to not serve. With the end of the cold war, most Eastern European countries sought to distances themselves from the USSR and their past, including legalizing conscientious objection. A special case has been Greece with its Orthodox tradition, which places loyalty to the state and 'self-defense' above the moral obligation not to kill. It is one of the few European countries with insufficient legislation regarding conscientious objection and alternative service. The most recent European country that recognized the right to conscientious objection was Serbia & Montenegro (WP) in 2003 (WP). During World War II (WP), conscientious objection to military service was a dangerous form of resistance, especially in Nazi (WP)-occupied Europe. In the following Cold War (WP) it was mostly seen as a political and anti-militaristic statement, which needed some courage and persistence. Nowadays, with the end of the West-East confrontation and the end of conscription in most EU (WP)-countries it has largely lost this idealistic function. However, the war on Iraq and the following occupation as well as the situation in Israel show that the topic is still up to date. See also *Conscientious objection in East Germany (WP) * Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (WP) * Center on Conscience & War (WP) * Conscientious objection to military taxation (WP) * Wikipedia:Category:Conscientious objectors * Friends' Ambulance Unit (WP) * GI Rights Network (WP) * Medical Cadet Corps (WP) * Pax Christi (WP) * Peace movement (WP) * Peace Pledge Union (WP) * Richmond Sixteen (WP) * Tax resistance (WP) * War resister (WP) * War Resisters' International (WP) * War Resisters League (WP) External links *The European Bureau for Conscientious Objection *The Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (US) *War Resister's International ja:良心的兵役拒否 (WP) Category:Conscientious objection Category:Military sociology Category:Pacifism Category:Anti-war Category:Military law Category:Conscription Category:Civil disobedience Category:Ethical principles